1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle lamp device including a tiltable reflector mounted in a housing a back wall of which is provided with an opening, a gap between the back wall of the housing and a back portion of the reflector being sealed with a rubber cover.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, a vehicle lamp device is well known as shown in FIG. 10.
Referring to FIG. 10, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing. A lens 2 is mounted on a front opening of the housing 1. A circular opening 4 is formed in a back wall 3 of the housing 1. A portion 5 of the back wall 3 surrounding the circular opening 4 is formed cylindrical. An annular groove 6 concentric with the circular opening 4 is formed on the back wall outside the cylindrical portion 5.
A reflector 8 having a bulb 7 is mounted in the housing 1. The reflector 8 is supported by an adjustment mechanical means (not shown) and can be tilted thereby. A back portion 9 of the reflector 8 faces the circular back opening 4.
A gap H between the reflector back portion 9 and the cylindrical portion 5 of the housing back wall 3 is sealed with an annular rubber cover 10 by which water is inhibited from coming in.
FIG. 11 is an enlarged view showing a part of FIG. 10. The annular rubber cover 10 has an inner cylindrical portion 10a, an outer cylindrical portion 10b, and a flexible portion 10c linking the inner portion 10a to the outer cylindrical portion 10b.
The inner cylindrical portion 10a is fit to the reflector back portion 9 and is fixed to the reflector 8 with a cap 11. The cap 11 is fixed to the back portion 9 with the screw 11'. The outer cylindrical portion 10b is inserted into the annular groove 6 and is fixed thereto with a metallic set ring member 12. The set ring member 12 as a portion 13 to be inserted. The portion 13 has an elastic engagement claw 14. When the set ring member 12 is pressed from behind, the to-be-inserted portion 13 of the set ring member 12 is inserted into the annular groove 6. The elastic engagement claw 14 serves to fix the metallic set ring member 12 to the housing back wall 3.
However, to insert the portion 13 into the annular groove 6, it must be pressed with great force because the rubber cover 10 is designed to be sandwiched between the engagement claw 14 and the housing cylindrical portion 5 from directions perpendicular to an inserting direction of the to-be-inserted portion 13. That is, in the conventional vehicle lamp device, it is difficult to insert the portion 13 of the metallic set ring member 12 into the annular groove 6.
Further, there is a problem in that the deformation of the engagement claw 14 makes it difficult to be tightly engaged with the annular groove 6.
Another prior art vehicle lamp device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. heisei 4-282501.
In this prior art, a rubber cover is fixed to an annular portion of a housing (lamp body) by means of a cylindrical set ring member. The set ring member and the housing each have an engagement portion. To fix the set ring member to the housing, the set ring member is inserted into the annular portion of the housing and is engaged with it by means of their engagement portions. The rubber cover is sandwiched between the annular portion of the housing and the set ring member. Inward force from the directions perpendicular to the inserting direction of the rubber cover is applied to the rubber cover when the rubber cover is inserted. Therefore, its insertion is not easily carried out. Further, generally, the set ring member generally has a complicated construction. It is an object of the invention to provide a vehicle lamp device in which the set ring member whose structure is simple causes the rubber cover to be pressed for correctly sealing the gap and be easily fixed to the housing.